(LYRCD 7179)

GAMELAN OF AND GAMELAN KEBYAR RECORDINGS AND REVISED NOTES BY RUBY ORNSTEIN © 2011 Ruby Ornstein

TRACKS 1. Topeng Tua – performed by Gamelan Angklung, Mas – 3:14 2. Kebyar Teruna – performed by Gunung Sari, Peliatan – 13:49 3. 3. Tabuhan Joged – performed by Gamelan Angklung, Jineng Dalam Selatan – 7:37 4. Segara Madu – performed by Gamelan Angklung, Sayan – 3:12 5. Lagu No. 2 – performed by Gamelan Angklung, Jineng Dalam Selatan – 6:27 6. – performed by , Kedis Kaja – 8:58 7. Hujan Mas – performed by Gunung Sari, Peliatan – 6:35

NOTES Bali, one of the several thousand islands forming the Republic of , has long been famous for its gamelan music. A tiny Hindu minority in a predominantly Moslem land, the Balinese enjoy a way of life filled with an incredible number of temple celebrations and life‐cycle ceremonies, all of which require music. In earlier times when the Balinese rajas still maintained splendid palaces, they supported large numbers of musicians and dancers for gamelan that belonged to their courts. Nowadays, with most palaces reduced to a mere shadow of their former magnificence, their orchestras have been pawned or sold, and musical activity is chiefly at the village level. Gamelan instruments are owned by a village, a banjar (a sub‐section of a village), or by musicians themselves. In any case, the players form a club to regulate their activities. And, if money and leisure time are less abundant than formerly, and fewer gamelan clubs are active now than before 1940, there are still nearly 20 different kinds of gamelan in Bali. This CD is devoted to gamelan angklung and gamelan gong kebyar, which were among the most popular in the 1960s when I recorded this music.

Gamelan angklung is an ancient orchestra that provides music for temple festivals, cremations, and virtually every other occasion for which music is needed. Its instruments are small enough and light enough to be carried in processions. Traditionally this gamelan did not accompany dance performances, but it has been used in the south for topéng (masked dance drama) since at least the 1 mid‐20th century; and it even accompanies kebyar dances in villages that do not own the larger gamelan gong kebyar and cannot afford to hire one. Although gamelan angklung were originally tuned to a four‐tone sléndro scale, a fifth tone was added to many orchestras in the north. The gamelan gong kebyar was developed in the early part of the 20th century to accompany the newly conceived virtuoso kebyar dances. This gamelan is tuned to a five‐ tone pélog scale. Today the ensemble accompanies contemporary kebyar dances as well as topéng, légong, and baris (an ancient warrior dance). Its repertoire also includes instrumental virtuoso pieces.

The instrumental make‐up of the gamelan gong kebyar and gamelan angklung is similar ––bronze‐ keyed (), tuned bronze gong kettles (réyong), single of various sizes, two drums (), cymbals (céng­céng), and (suling). The angklung instruments are smaller and fewer in number (16 or so), with a total range of three octaves. Kebyar instruments are larger, there are twice as many, and the total range is five octaves. Gamelan tuning is not standardized so instruments are not interchangeable. Within each gamelan, metallophones are tuned in pairs, one pitched slightly lower than the other. When both keys of a pair are struck, acoustic beats or waves (ombak) are produced. These beats give Balinese gamelan its characteristic shimmering sound. The conductors of the kebyar ensemble are the lead drummer and the lead () player. The conductor of the gamelan angklung is the lead metallophone player. The small angklung drums play a secondary role and can be omitted.

Ostinato form is commonly used for traditional gamelan compositions. One or more of different lengths are repeated several times, and each instrumental section provides a different interpretation of the ostinato. The result is a set of simultaneous variations resulting from layers of melodies that range from simple to complex. In an angklung piece, the pair of metallophones at the lowest octave plays the basic (pokok), and the metallophones one and two octaves higher often embellish that melody in a simple fashion. At other times they join the réyong in playing (interlocking parts). Kotekan is composed of two syncopated parts that interlock to form a continuous melody based on the ostinato. Each beat is marked by the kempli, and the kempur marks the end of each phrase. The bamboo flutes float above the rest of the ensemble, playing their own versions of the melody. In a kebyar ensemble, a pair of single‐octave metallophones plays the pokok tones while a second pair, tuned an octave lower, plays every other note. The 15‐keyed ugal, the largest metallophone, embellishes the basic melody, while the remaining pairs of 10‐keyed metallophones, one and two octaves above, play kotekan. The réyong also plays kotekan, but often abandons that role to provide an alternate textural layer of syncopated percussive . These damped and open sounds are played on the knobs and rims of the kettles and are reinforced by the cymbals. The large gong marks the end of the ostinato melody while smaller gongs punctuate it on subsidiary beats. Gamelan music is an oral tradition. Except for the suling melodies, the music is not improvised. Once learned, a composition is played exactly the same way each time.

Topéng Tua Every topéng performance begins with the appearance, consecutively, of several masked characters. Their dances are a prelude to the tale that will unfold, but have nothing to do with its plot. One of these characters is an old (tua) man. His attempts to move rapidly result in stumbles and near collapse, provoking laughter from the audience. He regains his balance and rests for a moment, taking several deep breaths. He picks something from his mane of white hair and breaks it with his finger tips, the all‐ too‐familiar gestures producing still more laughter. Here a gamelan angklung from Mas village in south Bali plays the music that would accompany topéng tua. A pair of larger drums played with hands and stick replaces the small angklung drums. The lead drummer must watch the dancer for sudden changes in . He signals the lead metallophone player who alerts the other musicians.

2 Kebyar Teruna Kebyar Teruna is a famous north Balinese composition by Gde Manik. It is played here by the equally famous gamelan, Gunung Sari, from Peliatan village in south Bali. The word kebyar means a sudden flare (e.g., the striking of a match). Musically it means the initial explosive sound of all the instruments struck simultaneously. After this dramatic opening, the gamelan continues to play in typical kebyar style, characterized by passages in free , sudden changes in dynamic level and tempo, and ending with a flourish of glissandi. Thus far, the dancer has not made her appearance, and she will not do so until the completion of a series of individual virtuoso passages of kotekan for réyong and metallophones. When the dance finally begins the gamelan plays a series of ostinatos that are borrowed, in form at least, from older musical repertoires. These melodies vary in length, mood, number of repetitions, style of kotekan, and tempo and dynamics. From time to time, the musical flow is interrupted by the angsel – a sudden, often syncopated stop. The angsel finds its visual expression especially in the movements of the dancer’s eyes, hands, and feet.

Tabuhan Joged As the title suggests, this composition is based on a melody borrowed from the repertoire of gamelan jogéd bungbung, a bamboo orchestra that accompanies a flirtatious dance. Gamelan jogéd is tuned to a five‐tone sléndro scale, as is this gamelan angklung from Jineng Dalem Selatan village in north Bali. Thus few changes were needed to convert the jogéd piece to one for angklung. The angsel heard in this piece are typical of those used in the jogéd dance, but this angklung composition is strictly instrumental.

Segara Madu This recording was made in the village of Sayan. The Sayan gamelan is one of the few gamelan angklung in south Bali that still uses the ancient instrument called angklung. It is a rattle made of tuned bamboo tubes set in a frame, and there is one rattle for each note of the scale. In this piece the angklung replace the réyong; the drums and kempli are also omitted. The angklung rattles are played in style, simulating the kotekan played by the metallophones. The metallophones play very softly at times so that the unique sound of the angklung can be heard clearly.

Lagu No. 2 Like many angklung pieces, this one has no title. It is labeled Melody No. 2 because it was the second one I recorded that day. It is performed by the same gamelan heard on track 3, and the lead drummer is also the composer. His piece follows the form of many old angklung pieces: a single melody, in this instance 46 beats long, is repeated several times with changes in tempo and dynamic level. The gong is struck at the end of each repetition.

Gambang Suling This recording was made in Kedis Kaja in north Bali. Gde Merdana is the composer, head of the gamelan and lead drummer. The Gambang Suling melody comes from the 1956 Javanese gamelan piece of the same name by the composer, Ki Nartosabdo. The 5+3 rhythmic pattern is characteristic of the melodies of the ancient and sacred Balinese gamelan gambang. Merdana’s Gambang Suling also imitates the playing style of the gambang, the for which the gamelan gambang is named.

Merdana’s Gambang Suling was a groundbreaking composition in the mid‐20th century; its techniques and form were innovative then and remained influential for decades. The introductory section begins with a gegenderan, a very lengthy passage for metallophones, and it is followed by even longer episodes for réyong and kendang. The “introduction” is so long, in fact, that it encompasses two‐thirds of the entire piece. Merdana’s fascination with the réyong is revealed in a subtle duet between réyong and suling. The réyong is played by a single musician. He is joined by a suling player, and the two quasi‐ soloists play the melody along with the gamelan. Even the ending is atypical: ever softer repetitions of

3 the final melodic phrase, still using the 5+3 pattern, gradually fade away leaving only the sound of the gong.

Hujan Mas Gde Purana, a composer and gamelan teacher from north Bali, is the composer of this famous instrumental piece. Purana came to Peliatan village to teach Hujan Mas to Gunung Sari, the gamelan heard on this track. The well‐known Javanese gamelan composition by the same name appears to be otherwise unrelated to Purana’s Hujan Mas. Like Gambang Suling, Hujan Mas is based on a single melodic ostinato, but it is much more straightforward. There is a gegendéran for metallophones, followed by a passage for the entire gamelan. A réyong episode leads to the 16‐beat Hujan Mas melody, to which the major portion of the piece is devoted. During successive repetitions, the réyong parts vary, sometimes doubling the metallophone kotekan, at other times playing on the rims or knobs, and at still other times alternating between the two techniques. It is the réyong variations, and particularly the syncopated passages, that make Hujan Mas such an exhilarating piece.

Ruby Ornstein is an ethnomusicologist who studies Balinese gamelan music. She received her PhD in Music from UCLA. She is a member of the faculty at the College of Staten Island, CUNY.

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